Monday, April 11, 2016

When to expect God's judgment (Part 1)

"When the laws regulating human society are so formed as to come into collision with the nature of things, and in particular with the fundamental realities of human nature, they will end by producing an impossible situation which, unless the laws are altered, will issue in such catastrophes as war, pestilence and famine. Catastrophes thus caused are the execution of universal law upon arbitrary enactments which contravene the facts; they are thus properly called by theologians, judgments of God." ~Dorothy L. Sayers, from "The Mind of the Maker" (italics mine.)

A woman ran a red light and hit a man in a van. 
She failed at her attempt to be at the same place as the man at the same time as the man. 

An impossible situation.
A collision.
The woman.
The man.

A witness to the collision told the police officer what happened.
"I was behind her.  I saw her run the red light and hit the man's van."

The law of the land and the law of creation had spoken to the woman, the cause of the collision.
From the law of the land, the judgment was this: 
She ran the red light, she hit the man's van, and she must pay for her damages and his.

From the law of creation, the judgment was this:
Two physical objects (in this case, vehicles)  cannot coexist in time and space. 
To attempt contradictory coexistence brings damage to one or both objects (or vehicles.)
***

The situation with the collision ends. 
The woman paid the man in the van. 
Justice came to the man.
Now comes a new situation, one directly connected to the collision. 
***
On the day of the collision, the woman's destination was to an operation where the woman would become a man. Her destination was a collision of the masculine and the feminine, an attempt at an impossible situation--the collision of creation and Creator. 

What will happen if she continues with this destination?










Monday, April 4, 2016

Lessons from Baymax about Purpose


Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.


Baymax knew who he was and what his purpose was:

  • Who was he?  Baymax
  • What was he?  A personal healthcare companion.

From his introduction to any person he served, Baymax focused on his purpose, and never lost this focus. We'll look at Baymax's persistent focus on his purpose by his quotes from the movie. 

Flying makes me a better care provider

Baymax measured everything he did by his purpose.  If it fit his purpose, he did it.  If it did not, he resisted it, as we will see.

I am programmed to assess everyone's health care needs.

Baymax knew he was programmed and he knew his programmer:  Tadashi.  He always acted in agreement with his programming, and thus with his programmer.

I am a robot. I cannot be offended.

This reminds me of of Jesus saying, “I do not receive honor from men.”  Why did Jesus say this?  Because He came to receive honor from God, not men.  Therefore, he did not receive honor (or dishonor) from men.  In the same way, Baymax’s programming did not make room for being personally offended because he did not exist for himself.

My programming prevents me from injuring a human being.

Hiro, Tadashi’s little brother and the present owner of Baymax, commanded Baymax to destroy Tadashi's murderer.  But Baymax resisted according to his programming. He would not and could not go against his programming, and thus he could not obey a command that contradicted who he was.


Are you satisfied with your care? … I cannot deactivate until you say, “I am satisfied with my care."

Baymax sought direct and clear objective feedback from the one he served as to whether he was achieving the goal of his purpose. He couldn’t rest until the one he served as a healthcare companion affirmed the fulfillment of his purpose: personal health care.  He couldn’t rest or deactivate,  which is a robot’s version of dying.



Like Baymax, we should know who we are according to our Creator, and we should only be and do what we were created to be and do.  We should measure everything by our Creator’s purpose for us.  This will give power to who we are and what we do.